Perkins wins primary by a landslide

DANBURY - Common Council member Duane Perkins won the Democratic primary for the 24th state Senate seat Tuesday by an overwhelming majority.

The mood at Democratic Party headquarters on Main Street became more celebratory through the evening as numbers being called in from the polls showed Perkins beating his challenger, Terry Tierney, by a large majority.

Unofficial results provided by officials with the Danbury Democratic Town Committee showed that Perkins received 962 votes while Tierney received 153 votes. The voting totals excluded Bethel figures, which were not immediately available Tuesday.

"It was overwhelming," Perkins said shortly after his primary victory. "It shows that our message of new energy and fresh ideas is resonating with the voters."

Tierney said shortly after Perkins announced his victory that he wasn't surprised by the results and that he would support Perkins in the November election.

"I'm not surprised given that he outspent me 20 to one," he said. "At least he won by a large majority. This way hopefully the Democratic Party can unite and we will get Perkins elected to the state Senate."

The Republican nominee for the 24th District race, Michael McLachlan, called Perkins to congratulate him on his win Tuesday.

"I welcome Perkins into the race and look forward to debating him on issues important to residents in the district," he said.

Both Tierney and McLachlan took issue with $35,000 in public financing used by Perkins in the weeks prior to the primary. Perkins used the money on several campaign expenditures, including radio and television spots.

Tierney, who spent mostly his own money on his campaign, said Perkins immediately started fundraising after he was nominated by Democratic Party officials during a convention held in May.

Tierney, meanwhile, said he had to wait three weeks to receive the signatures needed to force a primary and another three weeks for state officials to verify the signatures before he became a certified candidate and thus eligible for the financing.

"I had a very small window to try and raise money," he said. "And if I had qualified for the public money I would have only had a few days to spend it. I decided it wasn't worth wasting $35,000 of the taxpayers' money to jam the airwaves."

Under the state's new public financing law, funding for primaries in state Senate races is available after a candidate raises at least $15,000 from 300 residents in the district.

McLachlan called on Perkins last week to return the public financing he received for the primary.

"Public financing was meant to take out special interest groups, which it essentially did, and level the playing field," McLachlan said. "But by receiving the public financing for the primary Perkins essentially had $35,000 more to spend on his campaign than I will. When I am elected I will submit a bill to correct this flaw."

Perkins defended his use of public financing.

"Our team worked incredibly hard to raise more than 70 percent of our funding in the first 10 days," he said. "I look forward to facing my Republican challenger on the issues that affect working families the most."

Issues highlighted by Perkins included strengthening the economy, affordable health care and protecting the environment.

Contact Dirk Perrefort at dperrefort@newstimes.com or at (203) 731-3358